Improvement in bottle-washers



' 2.She'ets-/Sheet 1. 0. A. MILES & E. R. LOVETT.

Bottle-Washer.

No. 213,583. PatentedMar. 25, I879.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. 0. A. MILES & E. R. LOVETT.

Bottle-Washer.

No. 213,583. Patented Mar. 25, 1879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORRIN A. MILES AND ELIPHALET R. LOVETT, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

I M PROVEMENT IN BOTTLE-WASHERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,583, dated March25, 1879; application filed November 8, 1878.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ORRIN A. MILES andELIPHALET R. Lovnrr, both of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBottle-Washers, of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanyin g drawings, is a specification.

Our invention relates to a machine for washing the interior of bottles;and it consists in the use of a revolving brush or scraper made ofrubber or other elastic and flexible material, adapted to be compressedso as to enter the mouth of the bottle, and to expand automatically asit reaches the enlarged part of the bottle, so as to act upon all partsof the inner surface of the walls of the bottle, in combination with ameans of automatically supplying water to the interior of the bottle, aswill be described.

It further consists in the combination, with a fixed or stationary pipeadapted to convey water to the interior of the bottle, of'a sleeveshaftencompassing said pipe and mounted in suitable bearings, in which it maybe revolved at a high rate of speed by means of a pulley aflixed thereonand a belt leading from it to any suitable driving-shaft, and aspring-supported brush or scraper secured to the end of saidsleeve-shaft and extendin ga short distance beyond, and adapted torevolve about the discharge end of said water-supply pipe.

It further consists in the combination, with astationary water-supplypipe and a compressible revolving brush or scraper, both adapted toenter the interior of a bottle, of a sleeve provided with afunnel-shaped mouth mounted loosely upon the brush-carrying sleeve-shaftin a position to encompass said brush or scraper and compress it to asuitable size to enter the mouth of the bottle, and adapted to be movedendwise on said shaft to uncover thewbrush or scraper by placing thenozzle of the bottle in the funnel-shaped mouth of said sleeve, andapplying force to the bottle to move it onto the brush in line with theaxis of motion of said brush.

It further consists in the combination, with a stationary watersupplypipe and a compressible revolving brush, both adapted to enter theinterior of a bottle, of a revolving I sleeve encompassing therevolving'brush or scraper and the discharge end of the water supplypipe, and adapted to be moved endwise in one direction by the movementof the bottle in the act of introducing the brush or scraper into saidbottle, and in the other direction by means of a spring or equivalentself-actin g device, a valve for controlling the flow of water throughsaid pipe, and a reciprocating cam-shaped shoe connected with and movedby said sleeve, and adapted to open said valve when the bottle is forcedonto the brush or scraper, as will be hereinafter described.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan of a machine embodying our invention.Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sectionon line as w of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a plan of the flexible and elasticbrush or scraper, illustrating its application to an ordinarybeer-bottle, (shown in dotted lines.) Fig. 5 is an edge view of thebrush. Fig. 6 is a transverse section on line y y of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is asection on line z z of Fig. 4; and Fig. 8 illustrates a modification ofthe brush or scraper and its application to the cleaning of achampagne-bottle, or a bottle Whose bottom projects upward into theinterior of the bottle, as indicated in dotted lines.

A is the bed of the machine, which may be mounted upon legs, or it maybe secured upon a bench or table of suitable height for convenientoperation. From the upper side of this bed rise the two standards B B,provided with suitable hearings, in which is mounted the tubular orsleeve shaft 0, having firmly secured thereon a pulley, D, by means ofwhich and a suitable belt leading thereto from any suitabledriving-shaft (not shown in the drawings) rotary motion may be impartedthereto.

To the front end of the shaft (1 is screwed the brush or scraper E,composed of the tubular hub a, spring-arms b b, and the elastic andflexible connecting-tie 0, made preferably of rubber, molded andprovided with sockets to receive the ends of the spring-arms b and b, asshown in Fig. 4, and also having its outer surface corrugated orcomposed of a series of projecting ribs, 0 c, as shown in Figs. 5, 6,and 7.

A water-supply pipe, F, leads from the valvechamber G, through thetubular shaft C, to a point near the front end of the brush E, as shownin Fig. 1. The front end of this pipe is closed, and a series of smallperforations, d, are made in its side near the end, so as to dischargethe water radially in small jets against the walls of the bottle.

The valve-chamber (lr receives the water at c, and is provided with thevalve f, the stem f, which projects through a stufling-box, y, and hassecured to its outer end the lever II, in the outer end of which ismounted the truck or roll H, and the hub of said lever has formed uponits inner end two or more inclined or cam-shaped surfaces, 11, fitted toand adapted to act upon correspondingly-shaped surfaces 1', formed uponthe outer end of the stufling-box or hub 9, through which the valve-stemf passes, all so arranged that a depression of the outer or movable endof the lever will cause the valve to be drawn away from its seat andallow the passage of water to the pipe F, the valve being again forcedonto its seat when the force is removed from the lever by the spring j.

Iis a rod or bar mounted in hearings in the standards B B, and havingformed upon or secured to its rear end the shoe 1', the under surface ofwhich is made cam-shaped for the purpose of acting upon the roll II, todepress the lever H and open the valve f, the opposite end of said rod Ibeing connected to the ear J, formed upon or secured rigidly to theexterior funnel-mouthed sleeve J in such a manner that an endwisemovement of said sleeve will cause a corresponding movement of the bar Iand shoe 1.

Within the sleeve J is another sleeve, 7:, of corresponding shape, soconnected thereto that the sleeve K may revolve with the brush orscraper at times, while the sleeve J cannot revolve. Both sleeves mustmove endwise together when the bottle is presented to the action of thebrush.

The inner sleeve, K, is designed to revolve with the brush when thebottle is removed, and the water is shut off to prevent unnecessary wearto the brush.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8 one of the spring-arms I) of thebrush E is made shorter than the other, so that the rubber tie 0 may fitdown into the annular ring in the bottom of the bottle and act upon allparts of the conical inward projection of said bottlebottom withoutsubjecting the rubber scraper to too great a strain.

The operation ofour invention is as follows: The rod I, shoe 1, andsleeves J and K being moved toward the front end of the machine, andheld in the position relative to the brush or scraper E shown in Fig. 3by the tension of the spring L, and the pulley D, shaft 0, and brush Ebeing made to revolve, the friction of the brush upon the inner surfaceof the sleeve K will cause said sleeve to revolve with the brush. If,now, the mouth of the bottle to be washed be inserted into the flaringmouth of the sleeve K, and the bottle be pressed forward in thedirection of the length of the brush-shaft, and with its longitudinalaxis substantially coinciding with the axis of revolution of the brush,the sleeves J and K, together with the rod I and its shoe 1, will bemoved toward the rear end of the machine, and the curved or inclinedportion of the under surface of the shoe 1, acting upon the truck 11,will depress the movable end of the lever 11, thereby moving the valve faway from its seat, and permitting the water to flow through the pipe Fand be discharged at its front end, through the orifices d d, into thebottle, the brush having in the meantime entered the mouth of the bottlewhilerevolving at a high rate of speed. As the bottle continues to bepushed forward the tension of the springarms b 1) causes the brush E toexpand, to adapt it to the varying diameter of the interior of thebottle and cause the corrugated outer surfaces of the socket portions 0of the rubber tie c to rub against the inner periphery of the bottle, asillustrated in Figs. 4 and 8. When the bottle, after being washed, isremoved from the machine, the spring L, acting by its tension upon therod I, causes it (the shoe I) and the sleeves J and K to be moved towardthe front of the machine till the parts assume the positions shown inFig. 3, when the valve f is closed and the supply of water is shut off,thus preventing all waste of the water until it is desired to washanother hottle, when the operation is repeated.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, 1s

1. A brush or scraper for cleaning the interior of bottles, composed ofa tubular hub or shaft, two springarms, and a flexible tie connectingsaid spring-arms, made of rubber or other suitable elastic material,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A brush or scraper for cleansing the interior of bottles by beingrevolved therein, composed, essentially, of a hollow hub or shaft, apair of spring-arms, b I), and the flexible and elastic tie c, andrubbing-pads c constructed and combined substantially as described, forthe purposes specified.

3. The rubbing-pads c and tie 0, formed of rubber, in one piece, andhaving their working-faces corrugated or provided with a series of ribs,0 c, substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The combination, in a bottle-washer, of a fixed or stationarywatersupply pipe, a sleeve-shaft mounted upon and adapted to be revolvedabout said stationary pipe, a brush or scraper attached to the end ofsaid sleeveshaft, and adapted to be revolved therewith about the end ofsaid pipe, and to be compressed to enter the neck of the bottle, and toexpand to the largest interior diameter of the bottle, and afunnel-mouthed sleeve mounted upon and surrounding said sleeve-operatingshaft, and iuclosing the brush, and adapted to be moved endwise on saiddriving-shaft to uncover thebrush, and to be revolved with said shaft byfrictional contact therewith, or be prevented from revolving byfrictional contact with the neck of the bottle, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

5. The combination, in a bottle-washer, of the fixed or stationarywater-supply pipe 13, valve f, lever H, the tubular or sleeve shaft 0,mounted upon and adapted to be revolved about the pipe I, thecompressible brush or scraper E, attached to and adapted to be revolvedwith said shaft 0, the two funnellnouthed sleeves J and K, arranged oneWithin the other, and concentric with the shaft 0 ORRIN A. MILES.ELIPHALET R. LOVETT.

Witnesses N. G. LOMBARD, E. A. HEMMENWAY.

